African Steel Mills Nigeria $395 debt restructuring

Overview:

• Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria agreed to provide an 18-month fixed rate term loan and a letter of credit facility to African Steel Mills Nigeria (ASM).
• The facility will finance the importation and purchase of raw materials for ASM's production activities in Nigeria.
• The transaction was an exchange rate driven debt restructuring.
• In the face of the rapid depreciation of the Naira against the US Dollar, the debt was restructured into a Naira facility in order to redress the mismatch between the borrower, Naira receivables, and its US Dollar loans from the lenders.

Wai Yee Tsang - Journalist